As anciently among the Jews, the priesthood is hereditary with this people; every son of a Bramin being a priest, and marries with the daughter of a Bramin. So also among all the Hindoos, the men take their wives among the daughters of those who are of the same tribe, sect, and occupation, with their own fathers. Thus the son of a merchant marries a merchant's daughter, and every man's son that lives by his labour, marries the daughter of one of the same profession with himself, so that they never advance themselves to higher situations. The Hindoos take but one wife, of whom they are not so fearful as are the Mahometans of their numerous women, for they are suffered to go abroad. They are always married very young, at six or seven years of age, their parents making the contracts, and they come together when twelve years old. Their nuptials are celebrated with as much pomp and jollity as those of the Mahometans. The habits of the Hindoos differ little from those of the Mahometans, already described; but many of their women wear rings on their toes, and therefore go barefooted. They have likewise broad rings of brass, or of more valuable metal, according to their rank and wealth, which they wear about the small of their legs, being made to put off and on. These seem to resemble the tinkling ornaments about the feet, mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, or the ornaments of the legs, anciently in use among the Jewish women. They have also such on their arms. The laps of their ears are pierced when young, and the hole is daily stretched and widened, by things put in on purpose, so that it at length becomes large enough to hold a ring as broad as a little saucer, made hollow in its edges to contain the flesh. Both men and women wash their bodies every day before they eat, and they sit entirely naked at their food, excepting only the covering of modesty. This outward washing, as they think, tends to cleanse them from sin, not unlike the Pharisees in scripture, who would not eat with unwashed hands. Hence, they ascribe a certain divine influence to rivers, but above all to the Ganges, daily flocking thither in great companies, and throwing in pieces of gold and silver, according to their devotion or abilities, after which they wash themselves in the sacred stream. Both men and women paint their foreheads, or other parts of their faces, with red or yellow spots.
In regard to their grosser opinions, they do not believe in the resurrection of the flesh, and therefore burn the bodies of their dead, near some river if they can, into which they strew the ashes. Their widows never marry again; but, after the loss of their husbands, cut their hair close off, and spend all their remaining life in neglect; whence it happens, that many young women are ambitious to die with honour, as they esteem it, throwing themselves for lore of their departed husbands into the flames, as they think, of martyrdom. Following their dead husband to the pile, and there embracing his corpse, they are there consumed in the same fire. This they do voluntarily, and without compulsion, their parents, relations, and friends joyfully accompanying them; and, when the pile of this hellish sacrifice begins to burn, all the assembled multitude shout and make a noise, that the screams of the tortured living victims may not be heard. This abominable custom is not very much unlike the custom of the Ammonites, who made their children pass through the fire to Moloch, during which they caused certain tabrets or drums to sound, whence the place was called Tophet, signifying a tabret. There is one sect among the Hindoos, called Parsees, who neither burn nor inter their dead. They surround certain pieces of ground with high walls, remote from houses or public roads, and there deposit their dead, wrapped in sheets, which thus have no other tombs but the maws of ravenous fowls.[240]
[Footnote 240: These Parsees, called Parcees in the Pilgrims, and Guebres by other writers, are a remnant of the ancient Persians, who are fire-worshippers, or followers of Zerdust, the Zoroaster of the Greeks.--E.]
The Hindoos are, generally speaking, an industrious race; being either cultivators of the ground, or otherwise diligently employed in various occupations. Among them there are many curious artificers, who are the best imitators in the world, as they will make any thing new very exactly after a pattern. The Mahometans, on the contrary, are generally idle, being all for to morrow, a common saying among them, and live by the labours of the Hindoos. Some of these poor deluded idolaters will eat of nothing which has had life, feeding on grain, herbs, milk, butter, cheese, and sweet-meats, of which last they have various kinds, the best and most wholesome of which is green ginger remarkably well preserved. Some tribes eat fish, and of no other living thing. The Rajaput tribe eat swine's flesh, which is held in abomination by the Mahometans. Some will eat of one kind of flesh, and some of another; but all the Hindoos universally abstain from beef owing to the reverence they entertain for cows; and therefore give large sums yearly to the Mogul, besides his other exactions, as a ransom for the lives of these sacred animals. Whence, though they have other and good provisions in abundance, we meet with very little meat in that country.
The most tender-hearted among the idolaters are called Banians, who hold the metempsychosis of Pythagoras as a prime article of their faith, believing that the souls of the best men and women, when freed from the prison of their human bodies, transmigrate into the bodies of cows, which they consider as the best of all creatures. They hold that the souls of the wicked go into the bodies of viler beasts; as the souls of gluttons into swine, those of the voluptuous and incontinent into apes and monkies; the souls of the cruel, furious, and revengeful, into lions, tigers, and wolves; the souls of the envious into serpents; and so forth, according to their qualities and dispositions; transmigrating successively from one to another of the same kind, ad infinitum; and, by consequence, believing in the eternal duration of the world. Thus, according to them, there does not exist even a silly fly but is actuated by a soul formerly human, considering these to have formerly belonged to light women; and so incorrigible are their sottish opinions, that they cannot be persuaded out of them by any reasoning. Owing to these opinions, they will not put to death the most offensive animals, not even the most venemous snakes, saying, that it is their nature to do harm, and that man is gifted with reason to shun these noxious creatures, but not at liberty to destroy them.
Many men devote their fortunes to works of charity, as in building serais, or lodging-houses for travellers, digging wells, or constructing tanks near highways, that the travellers may have water; and where such cannot be had, they will hire poor men to sit by the way-sides, and offer water to the passengers. The day of rest among the Hindoos is Thursday, as Friday is among the Mahometans, Saturday with the Jews, and Sunday with the Christians.[241] They have many solemn festivals, and they make pilgrimages, among which the most famous are Nagracut and Syba, formerly mentioned; where, if Mr Coryat may be believed, who says he carefully observed the same, people cut off part of their tongues out of devotion. It were easy to enlarge on this subject, but I will not any farther describe their stupid idolatry. The sum of the whole is, that both the Hindoos and Mahometans ground all their opinions on tradition, not on reason, and are content to perish with their fore-fathers, out of preposterous zeal and fond perverseness, never rightly considering the grounds of their belief.
[Footnote 241: Monday is the day of rest with the people of Pegu. In Java, each individual keeps that day holy on which he has begun some great work.--Purch.]
Both the Mahometans and Hindoos are under subjection to the Great Mogul, the term Mogul signifying a circumcised man, so that Great Mogul means the Chief of the Circumcision. The present king is the ninth in lineal descent from that famous eastern conqueror, whom we name Tamerlane, and who in their histories is named Timor. Towards the close of his life, he had the misfortune to fall from his horse, which made him halt during the remainder of his days, whence he was called Timur-lang, or Timur the lame. The emperor styles himself The King of Justice, the Light of the Law of Mahomet, and the Conqueror of the World. He himself judges and determines on all matters of importance which occur near his residence, judging according to allegations and proofs, by his own sense of right. The trials are conducted quickly, and the sentences speedily executed, culprits being hanged, beheaded, impaled, torn by dogs, destroyed by elephants, bitten by serpents, or other devices, according to the nature of the crimes; the executions being generally in the public market-place. The governors of provinces and cities administer justice in a similar manner. I could never hear of any written law, the will of the king and his substitutes being the law. His vicegerents are not allowed to continue long in one place, lest they acquire popularity, and are therefore usually removed yearly. They receive the letters of the king with every possible indication of respect. They look to receive presents from all who have occasion to apply to them; and, if not often gratified with these, will ask for them, and will even send back such as they do not approve, demanding better to be substituted. The cadi has power to imprison debtors and sureties, who are bound by written deeds; and men in power, for payment of debts due to them, will often sell the persons, wives, and children of their debtors, which is warranted by the customs of the land.
The king appears in public three times every day. His first appearance is at sun-rise, from a bow-window looking; towards the east, where great multitudes assemble to salute him, or give him the salam, calling out padishah salamet, which signifies Live, O King! At noon he again sits in public seeing his elephants fight, or some other pastimes. A little before sun-set, he shews himself a third time, at a window looking to the west, whence he retires amid the sound of drums and wind-instruments of music, the acclamations of the people adding to the noise. At any of these three appearances, all who have any suit to him hold up their petitions to be seen, and are heard in their own causes. Between seven and nine in the evening, he again sits in private, attended by his nobles.
No subject of this empire holds any lands by inheritance, neither have they any titles but such as depend on the will of the king. Owing to this, many of the grandees live up fully to the extent of their means. Merchants also, and others, are very careful to conceal their wealth, lest they be made spunges. Some small means of living are allowed by the king to the sons of his great men, which they can never make better, unless they succeed to the favour enjoyed by their fathers. His pensions are reckoned by the numbers of horsemen allotted to each; and of these he pays a million in the whole extent of his empire, to the amount of twenty-five pounds being yearly allowed for each horseman, which are drawn from lands, specified in the particular grants or commissions. There are about twenty of his courtiers who have each the pay of 5000 horse; others of 4000, 3000, 2000, and so downwards. He who has the pay of 5000, is bound to have 2000 always on foot ready for service, and so in like proportion for all others. This absolute dependence renders them dissolute parasites. When the Mogul gives advancement to any one, he adds a new name or title, as Pharaoh did to Joseph. These names or titles are very significant; as Mahobet Khan, the beloved lord; Khan Jahaun, the lord of my heart; Khan Allum, the lord of the world, &c.